On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman interpreted that data to mean that the Republican Party has become radicalized, and that Romney isn’t doing much for to make a case for his authenticity.

“I think it’s two things,” Friedman said. “I think it is the fact that in my view the Republican Party is no longer a conservative party. It’s become a radical party on a lot of these key issues. That’s number one. And number two, I just came back from New Zealand, OK. You have people living in the outback of Australia who would look at Mitt Romney, say, ‘Haha. Not authentic.’ I mean, it is just so obvious. I mean, you know this is a guy who’s running against everything he’s believed his whole life. And it’s just so staggeringly [obvious].”